Today one of my clients and I drove up to Riverside, California so I could do some research for a project we're working on. On the way through town, we passed numerous empty houses with uncut lawns and empty rooms -- and For Sale signs posted out front. Some of the signs had an added note: Bank Owned. California's Inland Empire -- the inland area of Southern California surrounding the cities of Riverside and San Bernardino -- was booming just a few years ago. Today it's a bust. According to an article in today's New York Times, the area's unemployment rate is hovering at 9.5 percent and 350,000 homes have gone into foreclosure -- with a local population of about 4.3 million people, that translates into one out of every three homes.

However, among all these dark clouds silver linings are starting to appear.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. While the housing bust has caused endless pain to our national and regional economies, it has made real estate in most areas of the country much more affordable for start ups or established businesses looking to move or expand. Companies are buying properties today that they couldn't touch just a few years ago. If you've been toying with the idea of buying or leasing a new space, then you'd be hard pressed to find a better time to do so than right now. And the nationwide decline in the price of real estate also benefits employees who are looking to buy homes near their employers. Homes are much more affordable, and employees can qualify for mortgages at lower salary levels than would have been required last year.

It's easy to focus on the doom and gloom -- we all know there's plenty of that in the media. However, the real trick is to ignore the dark clouds for a bit, and focus on finding the silver linings you can leverage to your advantage during these tough times. Believe me: there are plenty of them out there. And as the recession begins to wind down in coming months, there will be even more.